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SPEECH BY RIGHT HONOURABLE NAHAS ANGULA, PRIME MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA ON THE OCCASION OF THE LUX DEVELOPMENT PROJECT LAUNCH PROJECT NAM 347 – SUPPORT TO VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING AT OLD ROSSING FOUNDATION BUILDING, MAIN HALL

February 12, 2009; OPM

Vocational Education and Training – a vehicle for accelerated development

Good Afternoon Honoured Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Colleagues, it gives me great pleasure to officiate at this auspicious event.

As you know, vocational education and training has always been close to my heart.

At the micro or individual level, it results in a commendable means to earn a livelihood thereby raising one’s standard of living. At the macro or national level, it is a necessary step to develop the diversified, competent and highly productive human resources required for Namibia’s economic growth.

Government’s acknowledgement of these facts led to the Vocational Education and Training Act, Act 1 of 2008, which established the Namibia Training Authority, “to achieve an effective and sustainable system of skills formation that is aligned with the labour market and provides the skills that are needed for accelerated development.”

Furthermore the NTA is to establish and maintain a sustainable partnership between government, the private sector and civil society to resource the provision of vocational education and training”.

This is no small task. Its significance in the context of achieving the goals set in Vision 2030 is obvious and further evidenced by the engagement of Lux Development through its Project NAM 347.

As Chair of the Namibian Community Skills Development Foundation, I have long been concerned with the provision of skills training at the community level to address the inequities Namibia inherited by enabling the disadvantaged to obtain some basic skills with which to make a living and provide a service to their communities.

It gives me great joy to see the beginnings of a National VET System that will create linkages to formal training and lay the foundation for lifelong learning along the National Qualifications Framework.

I am happy to acknowledge Lux Development’s capacity and willingness to work closely with Government to provide technical assistance and financial support as an effectively-coordinated integral part of the Education and Training Sector Improvement Programme.

This project is indicative of the integrated approaches and genuine partnerships identified in Vision 2030 as critical components of a strategic plan.
I want to emphasise that Lux involvement should be seen as an example, a call to private sector to take a leading role in the establishment of this National System, to ensure that the quality and content of training meets your needs and expectations.

Lux has committed to assisting the NTA to establish the Standards, Assessment and Certfication Council and the Industry Skills Committees as the quality assurors in your specific sectors. This is your chance to make a long-lasting and meaningful contribution towards the achievement of the goals of Vision 2030.

With Lux on board, the iron is hot, now is the time to strike! I urge you not to let this opportunity slip by, but rather with patience and perseverance, approach and engage with the emerging NTA structures to fulfil your rightful role as driving force. In closing, I hereby declare Project NAM 347 officially launched.

I sincerely look forward to hearing about the increasing engagement of all sectors towards the achievement of the critical tasks of this project.

Thank you.